“Then we shall battle much sooner than you expected, resulting in your own destruction.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Francoiso said. “You’re barren yourself and you know how we need another woman to continue the line.”
“There’s still Dragonseer Sako. I’m sure she’ll be enough.”
“Get out of here, Alsie,” Francoiso said. “I’m sick of your empty threats.” And he raised his hand to his temple again.
“I’ve warned you both,” Alsie said. And then I felt her leave the channel.
Francoiso crossed to the other side of the lake to examine the kill. I approached, brashly. Through the forest another shot sounded. I felt Sukina’s heart sink. They had also killed something.
“Marvellous,” Francoiso said. “I think we’ll be accompanying this feast with a great panther.”
Then came a third a shot, and I knew that Cini and Alsie had killed something too.
26
We slept without eating. Tradition had it that both bride and groom should fast the night before the engagement feast. Cini didn’t give us any Exalmpora either. I realized later that this was a test. The king wanted to check for any hints of us not being loyal to him, before he indentured us into court.
This time, given I had time available to think about it, I remembered better how Sukina had taught me to block my thoughts, and I kept myself distanced from my own mind throughout the night. I could constantly feel Alsie trying to get in, prying for any hint of anything that might ruin her plan. I felt Sukina knocking sometimes as well. But I wouldn’t let her in either. I didn’t want to be dragged away from my desires.
Strangely, as I kept distant from my conscious mind, the urge to take Exalmpora was also beginning to dissipate. Instead, emotions rose up within me: like guilt for not being concerned about Velos and for wanting to kill that white stag. I kept these distant as well. I just wanted, for a moment, to be.
So, I lay on my bed to appreciate the soft warm kiss of the woollen blanket underneath. From through the window, came the faint sulphuric smell of the smog. It was then that the realization dawned on me. Sukina was right. If I let myself succumb to the Exalmpora, then so much I held valuable would be lost. My connection to Velos would die. I’d hardly thought about him the last few days. And who knows what would happen to my connection to my parents. Instead, I’d lose my will and become a servant to Finesia. It was a terrifying thought.
But that terror could also take reign over me. I remembered the spider that had entered that dark room back at Fortress Gerhaun and, just as I had let that walk over me, I watched my fear walk by. And then, it floated gently away.
I fell asleep and woke the next day to a knock at the door. I knew it wouldn’t be Francoiso – I wasn’t allowed to see him until the official proposal. Instead, I was surprised to see Sukina there. “Come on, Pontopa.” she said. “Get dressed and let’s get this proposal out of the way.”
She didn’t say anything about our escape, which was wise given the guards posted around. Instead, I felt her trying to enter my mind again. But I still wasn’t ready. At that point, I didn’t quite know what I wanted.
I nodded and went to the wardrobe to find a red engagement dress. Symbolic, they said, of all the blood I had shed before my alleged right to bear children. I probably shouldn’t elaborate. I put on the dress. I never thought I’d come to this day. Let alone with a man I didn’t want to marry. That was it, I didn’t really want to marry Francoiso. Part of me knew that I was throwing my life away.
But then I knew what I did want: Exalmpora. Dragonheats, I thought I’d quelled that urge. But here it was, rising again.
The lace around the dress’ cleavage felt surprisingly soft against my skin. The red dress was designed to be the most raucous of all of them, and this one had a plunging neckline underneath the lace and displayed well over three quarters of my thighs.
If, as tradition said, he was going to back out, then this dress would make it even harder for him to do so. It felt strange to hold Sukina’s hand as we walked to King Cini’s entertainment pagoda. Especially since she kept tap-tapping on my mind, trying to find a way to speak to me. There was no way I’d let her in, though. I didn’t even look at her. But I kept hold of her hand. Etiquette was etiquette and I didn’t want King Cini getting suspicious about anything.
At the pagoda, a fine feast awaited us. Our game from the previous hunt would have to wait until the wedding day. But that hadn’t stopped King Cini from providing produce from his finest boutique farms. A hog roast was splayed across the centre of the table and, around it, various canopies so elegantly made they must have each taken hours to construct.
The Lamford brothers sat at either end of the emerald marble table, while the king sat at the side with Alsie, he in his white furs and Alsie wearing a splendid raven dress that matched the colour of her hair. Francoiso looked at me and smiled. He was wearing a navy-blue suit that even Faso would have envied. Charth had the same suit, but somehow it didn’t hang off his hunched posture quite so well.
Of course, the same golden and silver teapots lay on the table and I eyed the silver one with thirst. I would kill to drink that Exalmpora. I’d take down everyone in this room or die doing so.
But still I was a lady and had to show some restraint.
I stepped forward and sat next to Francoiso. He planted a kiss upon my lips. The king bowed to me and then poured me a cup of Exalmpora. I took it down in one and then the hunger subsided. I felt complete again and my muscles seemed to writhe and twist underneath my dress.
Alsie turned her eyes on me. I could tell from her expression that she had something that she deemed important. It looked almost like a challenge. That was enough to get me curious, so I let her in.
“You’re taking this too far, wench,” she said. “I hope you heed my warnings and drink your cure tomorrow, like a loyal subject.”
“I’ll decide on my own destiny,” I answered back.
“Then I shall have to force the vial whole down your throat until you learn. You shall not disobey the will of Finesia.”
And Alsie’s eyes were already regarding Sukina who drank from the cup in more refined motions. Their gazes met, locked on to each other and a tension rippled through the collective unconscious, as if someone had just pulled something tight around my heart.
“If you doubt my power, then hear this,” Alsie said to me in my mind and I felt another channel open up. I tried to push it away, but now I had no control.
“Dragonseer Sako,” Alsie said. “I know already of your plans to escape. You think you can plot in your channels with your old lover. But you can’t hide these things from me.”
“I don’t know who you think you are,” Sukina replied mentally, because she was in there too. “But my daughter has never been yours.”
“Not mine… Finesia’s. Don’t you know, woman? I’m not just Cini’s but Finesia’s right hand. Now, it’s only a matter of days until the transition becomes complete and then Artua will also become powerful. He’ll lose his ability to be a dragonseer and gain something far, far greater. Someone, Dragonseer Sako, of which you can be proud.”
“You’re a sociopath.”
Alsie scowled. “You have two options, Dragonseer Sako. Do as Finesia wills or die. If your suitor tries helping you anymore, I’ve already let him know how that will end… There is no other way. I don’t care about morals, and I don’t care about how Charth feels we should have treated Artua. So, you will stop resisting the Exalmpora, just as Dragonseer Wells here must learn to resist more.”
Sukina shook her head then tipped the liquid into her mouth. Her pupils dilated and I felt her train of thought vanish a little. Or was she just hiding it?
Artua appeared at the base of the pagoda, again wearing a suit. Without looking at either of us, he sat down next to Alsie. His eyes were hazy, as if the life had been sucked out of him. Alsie produced a thimble and raised it too his lips.
“Thank you, Maam,” Artua sa
id. He looked at me and a sly smile spread across his face. “I can see you’re enjoying this, Dragonseer Wells, and I wanted to extend my congratulations.” He sounded so much more mature now, as if he was growing up too fast.
Artua turned to Sukina. But there wasn’t a look of recognition like the other day. Alsie had done something to him to sap away his spirit. How much Exalmpora had it taken to numb his or her senses?
And yet, I somehow approved.
“And Dragonseer Sako, congratulations,” Artua continued. “I see the Exalmpora is also turning you into a fine woman.”
Cold, as if the blood relationship between them didn’t exist. As if she’d never given birth to him. The Exalmpora had moulded him into a different form.
But Sukina didn’t show any remorse. Either she was a good actress, or she was more far gone than it seemed. “Thank you, young man. And I’m sure you’ll make a fine dragonman yourself.”
“I will,” Artua said. “Alsie says I have great potential.”
“You do, young man. You do.”
“Wait a minute, Alsie,” I asked in the channel, which was still open. “Why are you forcing Artua to drink the Exalmpora every day if it’s so dangerous for me?”
“Because Artua is a child and children break down Exalmpora quicker than adults. If he doesn’t drink it every day, it won’t have the desired effect on him. I know what Finesia wills, Dragonseer Wells, and I urge you not to question my intentions again…”
She then coughed out loud and Artua sat up straight in his chair and shut up. Alsie took hold of a carving knife and fork and began to carve the hog. “Shouldn’t that be a man’s job?” I said to Francoiso out loud, with a punch to his shoulder.
“Oh, no, no,” Francoiso replied with a wink. “Alsie always likes to take control.”
And, I hate to admit it, but she carved so elegantly. Under the control of the Exalmpora, I found myself for the first time admiring her. It wasn’t as if the dress moulded around her, but her form moulded to the dress, as if with every movement she transformed into a slightly new shape. Her eyes focused on the knife as she carved with such intensity that it almost seemed a weapon of war.
I could sense great power in her. Even greater than I sensed in Sukina. But with Sukina, when I’d first met her, I wanted to know more about her. I felt a connection to her, and I loved her stories.
Yet, with Alsie what I felt was a need to gain her power and become even more powerful than her. I wanted her control over the king. I wanted that ability she had to control everything around her.
She looked up at me then, and for the first time, I saw her smile. “Not yet”, she said in the collective unconscious. “We will one day battle and fate itself will determine who wins.”
And I bared my teeth at her, because I hoped this fight would be sooner rather than later.
Soon the meat was cut, and we all tucked in to our food. We drank copious amounts of Exalmpora, and I once again became tugged into the warm liquid’s embraces. Underneath my skin, a different type of transformation was also starting to occur. I was warping into a new being, something far, far more powerful than anything I’d ever known.
“How long does it take to become a dragonman?” I asked Francoiso out loud, just after I’d breathed in his long and passionate kiss.
“That depends on your abilities entirely. For me it took a month, for Alsie, half a year. For Charth… Well, I’m not sure he’s even reached it yet.”
Francoiso threw a joking smile to his brother.
“Oh, but he’s a fine specimen,” Sukina said slurred. “Don’t you think, Artua?”
But the boy didn’t answer. Instead he was staring out at a full moon that shone through the thick smog.
“Enough, enough,” King Cini said. He was standing now and tapping a fork against his wine glass. “Francoiso and Charth, you know why we gathered here tonight. And now, it’s time to make your destined moves.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Francoiso said and he stood up abruptly. He turned to face me, went down on one knee, and produced a ring from his inside pocket. “Marry me, gorgeous,” he said.
I took the ring and put it on my finger. “Of course,” I said.
The king and Alsie started to clap. Artua joined in, but he still gazed off into the distance as if his hands were disengaged from his brain.
Charth stood up a lot slower and with much more grace than Francoiso. He lowered himself on to one knee and took Sukina’s hand in his. As he produced his ring, he kept his gaze on Sukina’s.
“Sukina Sako,” Charth said. “We’ve met once again, and we’ve fallen in love once again. Until death does us part, I shall protect you. Marry me, Sukina.”
Sukina gave Charth a curt nod. “Yes,” she said.
And she leaned out to give Charth a more modest, softer kiss.
“So, it is done,” King Cini raised his voice over the applause. “The dragonseers and the Lamford brothers are betrothed and you will finely adorn our court. Now, all return to your chambers, and rest well, for tomorrow the celebrations truly begin.”
Francoiso pulled away from me, but I still kept hold of his hand for as long as my arm would reach. “I can’t wait, darling,” he said in the collective unconscious. I knew he wasn’t talking about the wedding.
And it felt like everything had once again changed. Now drunk on the Exalmpora, I really wanted the wedding. In just under a day now, I would go to Francoiso’s bedchamber and we’d have a night of passion as two wild beasts, free of rationality and full of desire.
27
I woke to a throbbing headache. I thought I had this Exalmpora under control now. But clearly I’d drunk much more the previous night than any other night. Today, I would get married and to that handsome man of my dreams. We would multiply and create a new race of Finesia’s servants. Though I hadn’t yet heard Finesia’s voice, I could feel her spirit pulsing through my blood.
So, despite the hangover, I sprang out of bed and went straight to the wardrobe. I looked there this time to discover a beautiful wedding dress of the finest woven whites. Full of lace and frills and shining with faint traces of silver.
I washed myself in the basin and found some perfume waiting for me on the sink. I reached out for the bottle, my eyes still a little blurry from the celebrations the night before. Alsie’s voice sounded in my head.
“This time, wench, I delivered it myself.”
Dragonheats, I wish I could keep that woman out of my mind.
But I didn’t know what she was talking about, until I looked down at the perfume bottle and saw a tiny green vial lodged inside. Another cure… I didn’t want it. No, I wanted the effects of the Exalmpora, and I wanted Francoiso tonight, and I wanted to kill Alsie.
“Block it.” I don’t know if it was really Sukina who said that to me, or just her imagined voice in my head. But it had such authority that all my desires became suddenly forgotten.
Instead, I felt a stillness inside me, as if hypnotised. What I did next was automatic, yet I was also completely aware of every action I took. A deep inner part of me reached down into the bottle and took hold of the vial, uncorked it, tipped the contents into my mouth.
“I don’t want it. I don’t want it.” The thoughts echoed around my mind, trying to regain control. Yet these were secondary. Distant. I swallowed the cure and a sense of release washed over me.
I no longer felt transformed and the muscles in my body seemed to return to their normal shape. Waves of calm pulsated through my body, as if I had submerged myself in a warm and salty sea.
“Good,” Alsie’s voice came again. She had been watching all this time. “I now see you’re starting to learn. Every day I will reduce the amount in the cure until you’re ready to become a rational, yet still loyal, servant of Finesia. Though the process may seem progressive, the transition will happen overnight. As you shall soon see with Artua.”
Then, I felt Alsie left my mind and I knew once again I was alone. I gritted my teeth, walked
back to the wardrobe, and put the dress on.
As I dressed, the truth entered my head, in a place far out of reach of Francoiso and Alsie. I didn’t want to marry today, but I had to fool the king. Rescuing Artua was of crucial importance. He still had something of a dragonseer within him and he could be of great help to Gerhaun.
Another thing became obvious too. It was as if nullifying the desire introduced by the Exalmpora freed my mind to think clearly again. And I realised that the only reason Sukina had kept me out of her plans, was because I hadn’t yet learned to block people out.
I was missing something. I looked in the wardrobe and there I found the other half of my wedding outfit. A traditional calico blue and white chequered outer-dress. Heavy, and large enough that it would fit over the wedding dress. I put this on then left my room.
Three bridesmaids in long salmon-coloured dresses and pink bows in their blond hair were waiting outside the door. The king had selected ladies, from who knows where, who looked remarkably similar to me. Another tradition for those who could afford it. If Francoiso was to lay a lustrous gaze on any of them, I was allowed to slap in the face and leave him on the spot.
The bridesmaids led me to the throne room, and we met up with Sukina and her bridesmaids at the corridor. With Sukina’s oriental look, her entourage must have been even more expensive to source than mine. Sukina looked absolutely stunning, with a single long hairpin clipped through her hair, eyebrow extensions that brought out the almond shape of her eyes. The train of her long dress fell far below the hemline of her red and white calico over-dress. The wedding dress itself was one long straight cloth, with a surprising lack of frills.
When Sukina saw me looking at her, pride registered in her eyes. She knew, I guess, that I’d managed to push all the angst away from the previous days. And the connection I shared with her was enough for me to know that tonight we would make our escape. I didn’t even need to register the thought.
Today, the guards would be so drunk and Cini would least expect our disloyalty. If we were going to back out already, we’d have surely done so well before the wedding.
Dragonseers and Airships Page 24
